The Sprout: Manitoba scraps its fish marketing board

Good afternoon and welcome to the Sprout, where your host is thrilled with Team Canada’s performance in Rio so far! Congrats to all the medal winners!

Now, here is today’s agriculture news.

The Lead:

Manitoba is doing away with its Wheat Board-style fish marketing board — a move the province says will allow fishermen to market their own catches.

At an announcement Tuesday, provincial officials said the Manitoba government has notified Ottawa of its intentions to withdraw from the Freshwater Fish Marketing Act. The legislation currently allows the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC) to buy, processes and then sell most of the fish caught in Manitoba waters. The marketing board’s monopoly has been in place since 1969. CBC News reports.

In Canada:

A former B.C. agriculture minister is leaving the B.C. Liberal caucus to seek legal counsel because of unspecified allegations. In a statement, Pat Pimm said he also will resign his post as deputy chairman of the committee as a whole, but will continue to sit in the legislature as an Independent. The Times Colonist has the story.

Internationally:

Donald Trump has named his agriculture advisory committee. The committee, unveiled Tuesday, includes six farm state governors, including the governor of Iowa — where The Donald is hoping to lure swing voters. Reuters has the story. But as the Washington Post reports, several members of the newly named agriculture committee have said publicly they support legal status for undocumented workers — a position that appears to contradict Trump’s hardline position on immigration.

Officials in Hawaii are warning diners of the risks of eating raw and undercooked food as health officials grapple with an outbreak of Hepatitis A linked to frozen scallops that were served raw at a sushi chain restaurant. One hundred and sixty eight people are sick and authorities have ordered the closure of 11 Genki Sushi restaurants.The Associated Press has the story.

With a record crop looming, Russian farmers are worried about a lack of grain storage. As Reuters explains, the head of Russia’s Grain Union told a briefing in Moscow he expects a grain crop ranging between 114 and 118 million tonnes, including 69.5 million tonnes of wheat. While Russia has about 120 million tonnes of grain storage capacity, only 40 per cent of facilities are capable of maintaining good quality, the union leader said.

We here at the Sprout love a great proposal story — particularly when there’s an agriculture twist. A farmer in Manitoba is getting hitched after asking his girlfriend to marry him by carving out a giant proposal in his wheat field and then taking his sweetheart for a plane ride.